A PANICKED rail-user dialled 999 when he saw jets of flame coming from under his Huddersfield-bound train.

First TransPennine Express passengers were forced to switch carriages as smoke from an engine fire was pumped through the ventilation system into two of the four carriages.

One frightened passenger dialled 999 as the train approached Slaithwaite.

Fire crews raced to Slaithwaite but the train continued the five miles to Huddersfield where it was met by Huddersfield fire crews.

The driver had isolated the fire and activated the train’s fire extinguishers.

First TransPennine Express, which operates the Manchester Airport to York service, said the driver took the train forward to Huddersfield which was the "safest, quickest and most direct route to the emergency services and facilitated the speediest customer evacuation".

The company has now launched an investigation into the incident which happened on Tuesday at around 11.10pm.

They confirmed the fire was caused by an oil leak in the exhaust systems from the turbo charger.

Firefighters treated the undercarriage and used eight foam extinguishers and the train’s own specialist system to bring the situation under control.

"The driver could see the flames under the train and switched off the engine involved and continued to Huddersfield.

"As he set off, the second and third carriages started filling with smoke.

"Passengers knocked on the cab door and were trying to get off but the train doors would not open.

"When the train got to Huddersfield everybody got off and passengers were quite panicked."

First TransPennine ExpressFleet director, Paul Staples said: "I can confirm that a fire was reported on our 22.22 service from Manchester Airport to York.

"This was safely and appropriately dealt with both by the on-board staff and the train itself.

"Our Class 185 trains are a modern fleet with the very best automated safety protection equipment on board.

"This safety equipment successfully isolated the fire. This was isolated to one engine on the external part of the train and the fire did not affect the internal saloon. At no point was the safety of customers put at risk."